Driving Miss Mosey

 OTLTA (odel - 'tah)

FnEJ's Hideaway, Branford, FL - Sept 23, 2024 to July 22, 2025

Some of you have been asking what happened to the blog? Well, we've been wondering that too. We have been staying busy on something that has seem to taken on a life of its own.

When we moved to the Hideaway back in early 2022, all the "stuff" that  was left over after the "purge" was put into storage in Orange Park, FL. As time went by, we began to notice that stuff was costing a lot of money to store and it would be a lot more convenient if that "stuff" was close by. As you can see from what follows, that "stuff" was fixin' to cost us whole lot more.

So EJ got busy and found us a used shed in nearby Lake City, FL. After it was delivered, It needed to be insulated. Then for our stuff to survive the soul draining heat and humidity, the shed needed to be air conditioned. Then we moved our "stuff" from Orange Park to the Hideaway.

Somewhere along the way, we had the idea that this shed was a perfect size to make a little guest cottage. So now we add flooring and drywall, during which we have to move our "stuff" from one end of the shed to the other while we work. 

This pretty much summarizes the project until the summer of 2024 when I tell EJ "The one thing I would really like to do while we are in Florida for the winter it to put a porch on the shed". Little did we know what would happen.

How in the heck am I going to attach a porch to this thing?

I better figure something out, the material has arrived!

 

The framework has started.

OK, that completes that phase, but it still looks plain. It needs sprucing up. Uh oh. This is all I had planned on doing while we were home.

It needs a regular door.

That's better. Wraps on the porch columns, shutters for the windows, and a regular door. The project I told EJ that I wanted to accomplish is done.

Or is it?

Well, you know, now that the shed looks better on the outside, maybe we ought to get to work on the inside. Hmmm. That wasn't in the original winter plan. So designs were drawn and redrawn and redrawn. EJ agreed to take on floor planning for this phase of the new project. But first, we had to move all the stuff we had stored in the shed to make room for more construction and new "stuff".

So, the shop gets an addition to make room for the "stuff" we have to move.

The shop expansion is dried in.

Because it's Florida with bugs and it gets hot, we needed to insulate the shop expansion. I spray foamed the shop myself and immediately put that on my list of things I never want to do again. We turned this insulating job over to the experts.

Now that this OTLTA was completed, it was time to begin furnishing the  guest cottage. (OTLTA - one thing leads to another) Our porch project has morphed way beyond what we had originally planned for this winter.  Most of the "stuff" was moved into the shop expansion. The rest would find a place in the planned upgrade.

But first.....

Miss Mosey's shelter was starting to look pretty shabby. It has received no attention in at least 4 years, maybe longer. Time to remedy that. Since I am no longer allowed on roofs, we farmed it out to some local folks.

That's much better.

Then, in the process of refurbishing  the inside of the cottage, our split system air conditioning decided to take a powder. No cool from MrCool. Nope, not cool at all. Youtube came to the rescue and showed me what to buy to fix it. Soon, MrCool was cool again. Progress on the interior could now continue.

Amazon was happy that we were home. They must have delivered something to the Hideaway almost every day. Cabinets, toilets, sinks, tables, the list goes on. They will probably be much happier when we hit the road again, and leave them alone.

The living room.

Entrance to the kitchen.

The kitchen, equipped with a small refrigerator, microwave, toaster oven, and Keurig coffee maker.

The half bath.

Closet and storage.

As of yet there is no shower. We have one planned for the future, but it will have to wait. If you need to shower, use the one in Miss Mosey. It's getting late in the summer. The heat and humidity are oppressive. Our outside work is limited to about 8am to noon, after that we start to melt. We've been dreaming about the Colorado mountains. A lot!

Obligatory cat picture follows......